Born in Los Angeles and raised in the purple Southern California haze of the ’60s and ’70s, I—Jeff Young—was a kid with a dream… to spin records and sling sentences on L.A.’s airwaves. My holy grail? 93 KHJ—Boss Radio—where the slickest DJs in the game worked their magic. These vocal wizards darted through tight gaps between songs, charming the 18-34 crowd and beyond, all to keep them hooked through each precious quarter-hour. "Quarter hour maintenance" equaled ratings gold. If you could keep people listening for a few minutes across each quarter-hour, they counted as having listened for a full half-hour. In a world scrambling to earn tiny percentage point advantages over "the other guy", it mattered a lot.

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At 21, I broke into L.A. radio, but not at KHJ. Instead, I landed at KFI, a 50,000-watt beast of a clear channel station with listeners from coast to coast and beyond. Not exactly the prize I was after (there was only one KHJ), but not bad. KFI had been a classic, old-school joint—think talk radio titans like Lohman and Barkley or Hilly Rose. Then, under PD John Rook, it flipped the script, morphing into Music Radio KFI. Little-by-little, it gained a whole new audience.

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Reaching far beyond Southern California while on KFI, I'd get calls from everywhere - Anchorage to Arkansas. I heard from plenty of just plain folks and even some former bosses. A few potential new ones, too, suddenly expressing interest in having me on board, when before I "hit the big time", they didn't have a minute to spare.

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KFI was fun. Sort of. Interesting for sure--but it didn't last. Wait until you hear why, and what the boss said to me and my little sister as I was turning in my key.

 

Forced to move on, it wasn't long before I stepped into the wild, woolly world of radio management. I've had bosses tell me "Don't ever bother trying to become a radio manager. You'll hate it. Just play the hits, take your check and go home. You'll be happier".  Did I heed that advice? Ha! As if! Turns out they were onto something, but I got some good stories out of it all.​

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My last big gig--on a radio network heard worldwide--required me to interview or co-interview (with my on-air partner Verna McKay), a superstar one day, then cover a national tragedy the next, without revealing where we were broadcasting from - all while trying to sound local. ​

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I was on the air live during some of the biggest events in modern history, including the Challenger disaster, the '89 San Francisco quake, Columbine, and 9/11.

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I've interviewed a wide variety of celebs & news makers: 16 year old Taylor Swift (before SHE hit the big time and a couple of times after), Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, World Series-winning coach Tony La Russa, Jimmy Carter, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, David Duke, Timothy Leary, Jerry Springer (on the fly - nobody told me he was calling in - great interview), Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Olympic champ Kristi Yamaguchi, Garth Brooks, Tyler Perry, James Woods, Gretchen Wilson, Heidi Klum, Paulina Porizkova, Barbra Eden, Julie Andrews, Toby Keith, John Rich, Kenny Chesney, Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Sanjay Gupta, John Leguizamo, Tom Selleck, Johnny Van Zandt, Vicki Lawrence, Ed Asner, Alan Alda, Carrie Fisher, Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil, Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham, David Essex, Kim Carnes, Woody Harrelson, the Taco Bell Chihuahua, two Elmo's (the "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" singer & the Sesame Street character) and many more.​

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These are just names, I know. We’ve all heard a zillion celebrity chats. But I’m not a “same‑ol’, same‑ol’” interviewer. A few were caught off guard that I’d actually read, watched, or listened to their work. And yes—some get mad if you bring up something they'd rather not talk about or forget to plug their newest product. “F‑words” can fly when you least expect it, and I sure didn't expect it from certain people. I'm not easy to shock, but I have been a time or two. The BLEEP button can be a very helpful companion. 

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Along the way I encountered a truckload of sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, big band music--and country, too. I wasn't a big fan of country music growing up, but I learned to love a lot of it. I've found that in all genres, it usually comes down to the song, not the artist.

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I figured early on that radio might be a good fit for me, because A): I had a face for it, and B): I'd get to play a lot of the music I love. That's not always the case. Day one of broadcasting school, the instructor told us two key things he thought we needed to be aware of. One: This is a job, not just a place to play your favorite music. Two: 60% of people in the biz are gay--(or did he say 90? lol). Wait, what does that have to do with anything? We'll find out! Was he right? Did it matter? Yes, and no. Not necessarily in that order.​​​​​​​

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I wasn't sure I would, but I'm having fun writing this book. Not everyone will be pleased with what's in it. That's show biz​​.